The Chronicles of Melinda halliwell: Wyatt Blues
by piperandleo4eva
Summary: Wyatt's nineteenth birthday is almost here, but no one can get him what he really wants. The identity of the mysterious Mike is finally revealed.


The Chronicles of Melinda Halliwell

Wyatt Blues

Two taps. Chris. Each family member had a distinctive knock. Piper was three quick taps, like she was rushing to get them out, Leo was five, long short short long long. Chris was the aforementioned two taps, and Wyatt…Wyatt didn't knock. Wyatt just barged in. Or at least, Melinda thought, he used to.

Chris stuck his head through the door. "Wyatt just pulled out. Family meeting in the conservatory, now." Melinda got up, and the two of them went downstairs.

Piper and Leo were waiting for them. "Okay," Piper said, "All are present and accounted for."

Melinda rolled her eyes. Piper's family meetings always got on her nerves. "Why does Wyatt get to skip this?" she asked.

"Because the topic is Wyatt's birthday. It's on Sunday. Today is Monday. That gives us six days to prepare and we don't even know what he wants yet." Piper rubbed her temples. Wyatt was wearing her out.

"Look," Leo said. "I really don't think that Wyatt wants anything this year." He paused. "At least, not anything we can give him."

"Really?" Chris said. "'Cause I think that we can. I know a little spell…"

Piper shook her head. "Chris, no. That would only be worse, not better. He'd have to leave, and it would just hurt more. I know you want to help, but…" she trailed off, unable to come up with a suggestion herself.

It was Melinda who finally said, "I think Wyatt needs to come to terms with this on his own. I mean, and Mom, back me up, all we can do is let him know that we're hurting too, and we're here if he needs us, right?"

Piper smiled ruefully. "That is what helped me through Prue's death, and Grams'." She smiled at Leo. "And losing you." Leo squeezed her hand and smiled back at her.

"Okay, meeting adjourned due to parental cutesiness." Chris said, getting up. "Dad, Wyatt has our car. Can I use yours to go see Bianca?"

Leo sighed. "Fine, but don't you dare make a dent in the truck. You know it's a…"

"1941 in amazing condition. I got it. Don't worry."

As he left, Leo called "I'm your father, it's my job to worry about you having my car."

Chris laughed, and then closed the door behind him.

Wyatt stopped the car in front of the cemetery, but didn't go in. If I go in, it means he's really dead, he thought. If I go in, that means that that's really where he is now.

Wyatt shook his head to get out the morbid images. How could it even come to this? he thought. How could this even happen?

_One year earlier_

Wyatt pulled up in front of the manor and turned to his best friend, Mike Morris, who was riding shotgun. "Okay, ten bucks says that the minute I walk in that door, my mom's going to ask me something about my birthday."

Mike shook his head. "No way, I say she says "How was school, honey?" and then asks about either your birthday or graduation."

"Hmmm, interesting scenario, but do you have the cash?"

"Right here, you?"

Wyatt pulled a ten out of his wallet, showed it to Mike, and put it back. "You're on."

With those fighting words, both boys bounded out of the car, grabbing their insanely light backpacks. Graduation was Sunday, prom was Friday, and other than that, high school was over for good. Mike and Wyatt, who had been best friends since preschool, were both going to Berkeley, at least for a year, Wyatt because of the demon-fighting, and Mike because, well, life with Wyatt was exciting to say the least. How many other people could say that their best friend was the most powerful magical being to ever walk the earth?

When they reached the door, they paused to grin at each other. Then Wyatt opened the door and let out a resounding, "I'm ho-ome!"

Piper met them in the foyer. "Oh, good, I was about to call you. There are demons on the loose."

Wyatt shrugged and said, "Well, no one anticipated that. Guess we'll call this one a draw."

Mike laughed. Wyatt never took demons seriously.

Piper frowned. "Wyatt, these demons have been kidnapping baby witches in the hopes of raising them evil. They've got to be stopped. Phoebe and Paige are going to the Underworld to try and find them, and your father and I are using a fake baby as bait in the demons' last known location. Melinda, Chris, Sam, and Padrie are at magic school with Henry. You need to join them. Mike, I'm sorry, but you need to go home. Wyatt can orb you if you need a lift."

"Mom," Wyatt said. "I'm nearly eighteen. I want to go fight the demons too."

Piper shot him down. "No, it's too dangerous."

"Mom, I'm more powerful than any of them. C'mon, let me help."

Piper raised an eyebrow. "Cocky too. Tell you what. You can stay here with Coop in case they show up. First take Mike home." Just then, Leo orbed in and the two of them orbed out.

Wyatt flopped down on the couch. "Man, this is so unfair. I could take on an ordinary demon in my sleep, yet Mom still coddles me." He punched a pillow for emphasis.

"So let's go kick some demon ass." Mike said. "I mean, you orb, right? Let's bust out of here and go get us some fresh demon."

"I would, except for Uncle Coop." Wyatt said, gesturing to the figure in the conservatory.

"So let's ditch him." Mike said. "If we can't ditch a Cupid, what kind of pranksters are we?"

Wyatt grinned. "True. Okay, here's the plan. I'll use my cell to call the house, and pretend like I got a really important call. While I'm on the phone, you get Uncle Coop to take you home. While you two are gone, I'll orb out, kick ass, and orb back into my room pretending I was there the whole time."

Mike stared at him. "That's your brilliant plan? You get to go kick ass while I arrive home in a swirl of pink orbs? Not cool, man. Not cool at all."

"Mike, you can't come. It's dangerous. Demons will…"

"Demons will what? Come on Wyatt, you have that shield thing you can use if you have to, and we can always orb out." Seriously he said, "Look Wyatt, your family saves the world on a weekly basis. And my dad's so proud of Darryl Jr. for becoming a police officer like he is. I want to help the world too."

Wyatt sighed, but he got up and went into the kitchen and grabbed a potion. "This will blow up almost any demon. If one comes at you, throw it. But stay close to me at all times. We'll have to modify the phone plan…"

Wyatt dialed the house number on Mike's cell phone. He knew that Coop wouldn't recognize the name or number until it was too late. When Coop went to answer the phone, Wyatt grabbed Mike's hand, and the two of them orbed out.

They orbed into a deserted alley. Mike looked at Wyatt quizzically. Wyatt shrugged. "Demons love alleys. I know my family's vanquished loads of demons here." He and Mike began to look around the alley. Mike dug the potion out of his pocket. He moved around behind Wyatt. Just then, a black-clothed demon appeared in front of Wyatt and powered up an energy ball. Wyatt orbed it back at him, and as the demon screamed his way to oblivion, Wyatt said to him, "And you need a variety in the demon stores! You all look the same!" He grinned. "Right Mike? Mike?" He turned around and came face-to-face with another black-clothed demon. Wyatt again blasted the demon with his own energy ball. Then he looked around for his friend.

Mike was lying on the ground behind Wyatt, clearly hit by an energy ball. Wyatt knelt and shook him. "Mike, wake up buddy, we got the demons, let's go!" Mike didn't respond. Wyatt felt for a pulse, but there wasn't one to find. Wyatt bent over the body of his best friend and began to cry.

He and Mike had done everything together since preschool. Shelia and Darryl hadn't wanted their youngest son playing with Wyatt and getting involved with magic. But every attempt to separate Mike and Wyatt failed. Wyatt would just orb himself to Mike or orb Mike to him. Finally, Darryl and Sheila had given up and accepted the friendship. But Wyatt never really spoke to them, nor did they speak to Piper and Leo. When ever they could keep Mike away, they did. Mike had always felt that Darryl was disappointed in him for not being "normal". He'd always wanted Darryl to see who he really was and to be proud of him for that. Now Darryl never would.

Piper and Leo orbed in prepared to yell at their son and drag him home for another lecture, hoping that this one would get through to him, make him stop taking everything lightly, make him stop treating everything like a joke. But at the sight of their oldest son, they knew that there would be no jokes for a very long time.

Instead, Leo walked over to Wyatt and placed an arm around his shoulders. Piper did the same thing on the other side. "Wyatt, we were so worried…" she began.

Wyatt interrupted her. "I tried to heal him." he sobbed. "I can't. My best friend…he trusted me, and I got him killed. All he wanted was to make a difference, show his father that magic could do good. Now all Darryl will see is that it killed Mike. He didn't even have time to react, and I was too busy with another demon I didn't even see…until it was too late."

Piper and Leo were crying now too. Mike and Wyatt had always been inseparable. Mike was with them so much he was almost like another son. They'd always regretted that they couldn't reach Darryl and Sheila. But they swallowed their pain to comfort their son.

"Honey," Piper said. "I know how much it hurts. We both do. Andy…and Prue." Her throat constricted when she remembered her sister's death, but she swallowed hard and went on. "They were both killed by demons, and they were both just trying to help. Andy…you've heard about how he died. I bet that Mike was a lot like Andy, right? He had to come help, because that's just who he was." Wyatt nodded. "Sweetheart, there was nothing you could have done. If you hadn't brought Mike, he would have found some other way to come."

"It was his time Wyatt." Leo said. "There was nothing you could have done. Nothing any of us could have done. But you know what you have to do now, right?" Wyatt nodded again. Leo smiled sadly. "Your mom and I will call in the body. You go do what you have to do."

Wyatt looked at his father. "Don't call that "the body". That's Mike, and even if his spirit is somewhere else, he deserves his name." Then he orbed out.

He orbed into Darryl's backyard, took a deep breath, wiped his tears, and headed for the front of the house and the front door. Sheila answered the bell. "Wyatt! Oh, thank God, we've been trying Mike's cell and he won't pick up." She looked around behind him. "Where is Mike?"

Wyatt steered her into the house where Darryl was sitting. "Shelia, Darryl, something happened…"

Sheila put her hand to her heart. "What? What happened to my baby?" Darryl pulled her on the couch next to him. He looked at Wyatt angrily, but motioned for him to continue.

"Well, um, there was a demon attack this afternoon, and I was going to go fight the demons, and Mike insisted on coming with me. He just wanted to help."

"And you let him?" Darryl asked. "You let our son, a mortal, go fight demons with you?"

"I thought I could protect him! I thought…"

"You didn't think, did you? You didn't think, and now Mike is dead, isn't he?"

"Darryl!"

"No, Sheila, that's what he came here to tell us, isn't it?" Darryl rounded on Wyatt. "You came to tell us that because you didn't think, our son is dead, is that right?"

Wyatt was crying now. "Darryl, I…I never meant for this to happen. I never wanted Mike to get hurt. I loved him too. He was like the brother I actually wanted. It…it was a mistake. This whole thing was a mistake."

Sheila was crying, but Darryl was stoic. "Get out."

"What?"

"Get out of my house. You have no reason to be here anymore. You said what you needed to say, now get out."

"Darryl, he's hurting too!"

"So he can go hurt somewhere else. Go hurt until tomorrow, when he'll swallow his pain and go kill another demon. And he'll keep killing demons and going to parties and he'll head off to college, and Mike never will."

"Darryl!"

"Don't Darryl me Sheila! Don't you see? I knew magic caused nothing but pain." He turned to Wyatt. "You may save the world, but none of you are any good at saving the people you say you love. Haven't you noticed by now that being with you and your family is just asking to die?" He lowered his voice, and it got harder. "Get out of my house, Wyatt Halliwell, before I throw you out."

_Present day_

Wyatt put his head in his hands. He and his family had gone to both the wake and funeral, but Darryl had refused to speak to any of them. Wyatt was seriously contemplating going home and locking himself in his room when his sister orbed into the front passenger seat. She smiled sadly.

"We voted that you need time to figure this out on your own, but in the meantime, you could probably use backup here. And since I'm not likely to be sympathetic or sentimental, I came."

Wyatt laughed, then pushed open the car door. "Time to face the music." he said as Melinda followed him to the cemetery itself.

Darryl, Sheila, and their son Darryl Jr. were all at Mike's grave. Darryl Jr. was in his police uniform, and Wyatt knew that he must have just come from work. He looked down at his empty hands. The Morris' had left flowers on Mike's grave. Wyatt had nothing. He was about to turn tail and leave when Melinda grabbed his arm. "You know Mike is watching." she said. "What would he have done for you?"

Wyatt took a deep breath and went to the grave. Melinda followed. She missed Mike, but this was her brother's fight. He had to get through this alone.

Darryl looked up as Wyatt drew nearer. Upon seeing him, his face twisted in rage. Patting his sobbing wife's hand, he walked over to Wyatt. Seeing this, Melinda quietly moved to her brother's side. Then again, there were some things you needed your family for.

Wyatt gulped at Darryl's approach, but managed to regain his composure. "Darryl, hello."

Darryl was in no mood to exchange pleasantries. "Get out of here, Wyatt." he said. "This is family only. Last I checked you were certainly not in that category."

"Darryl, I didn't come to cause trouble. I came because…" Why did I come? he thought. "I came to…apologize to you in front of Mike or at least, in a place where part of him is. I'm so sorry for what happened. I have been, and I've had to live with it all year. I know I can't even begin to understand what you're feeling…but it's not like I don't hurt too."

Wyatt pushed past a temporarily speechless Darryl and knelt at Mike's grave. This isn't you man, he thought. You've got to be someplace better than this, or I'll never forgive myself. Please, God, Elders, whoever's in charge of this kind of thing, make sure Mike's happy. Make sure he's someplace good, with people he cares about. People...who love him like me and Darryl and Sheila.

When Darryl regained speech, he went up to Melinda. "When he's done here, I don't want to see either of you again. If I never saw another Halliwell, it would be too soon!"

When they got home, Wyatt parked the car and stalked inside, completely ignoring Melinda. When he got inside, he went right up to his room and slammed the door. Melinda let herself in behind him. She checked her watch. Three o'clock on a Wednesday. Piper was probably at P3H2O, Phoebe was at the paper, Paige was at South Bay Social Services, Henry was at his office, and Coop was probably with a charge. Melinda smiled and remembered why she always ended up going to see her father when she was looking for an adult.

Three to four was Leo's after class office hour on Wednesdays, so Melinda breezed right in. Leo regarded his daughter as she sat down. While Mike's death had been hardest on Wyatt, the entire family felt its effects. "Did you go to the cemetery with Wyatt?" he asked.

Melinda nodded. "Darryl, Sheila, and Darryl Jr. were there too. Darryl told me that he never wanted to see any of us ever again."

Leo raised his eyebrows. "I'm not surprised, but since when do we ever see him to begin with? He avoided us when Mike was alive too."

"Yeah, but you know Mike always hoped the Darryl and Sheila would come around. He wanted them to see how good magic was. He just wanted them to be proud of him. He looked up to Darryl so much…" _just like Wyatt looks up to you. _Melinda didn't say what she was thinking, mostly because she didn't know how many of the secrets she wasn't supposed to know she should share.

Leo seemed to understand anyway. "Melinda, losing a child has got to be the worst thing in the world that could happen to a person. I only hope I'll never have to go through what Darryl is. But I'll tell you, when Andy died, Prue was ready to give up magic because she thought that it was her fault that Andy had died, that her magic had failed her."

"Aunt Prue wanted to stop being a witch?" Melinda said incredulously. She had never met her aunt Prue, but she had always heard that Prue was like a super-witch. When Melinda had stopped using her magic, Paige had yelled at her, telling her that she was failing her aunt Prue, who had died to ensure that the Halliwell magic lived on. Melinda had retorted that Paige had never known Prue, so who was she to talk. Melinda now stared at floor thinking about it. She and Paige never talked about that day and what they'd said, and Melinda wasn't sure where they stood.

"Prue was ready to give up being a witch when she thought that being one had cost her her true love's life." Leo said; bring Melinda back to the present. "Piper and Phoebe helped her to realize that it wasn't her fault. You know…" he said thoughtfully. "Darryl helped Prue through that too."

"Darryl? Lieutenant I Hate Magic Darryl? I mean, I know he wasn't always like that, but I thought he was never into it."

Leo smiled. "He wasn't, but he realized the good that your mom and aunts and I were doing. He knew that Andy had died for a good cause and that because of his death, Prue, Piper, and Phoebe could go on doing all the good that they were. He knew that that's what Andy would have wanted."

"I wish he would think like that about Mike's death too." Melinda thought for a minute. "Wait, Dad, maybe we can. You've been saying that the Great Hall could use something, and I think I know just what."

"Melinda, I don't want to be here." Wyatt told his sister as she pulled him towards the Great Hall on Sunday. "I told you guys that all I wanted to do with my birthday was stay in my room. Is that too much to ask for?"

"Shut up. I think you might actually like this." Melinda said as Wyatt stopped walking and just stood still. "Oh, for heaven's sake." She put a hand on Wyatt's shoulder and orbed them both into the Great Hall.

Piper and Leo were standing next to a cloth covered wall with Sheila and restraining Darryl. As Melinda and Wyatt came to them, Leo motioned to Phoebe and Paige, who pulled the curtain off the wall. On it was a picture of Andy Trudeau, with a caption that read "Inspector Andrew Trudeau, SFPD. 1970-1999. Champion of the innocent, protector of the Charmed Ones. Beloved by many, missed by all. The magical community honors and thanks you."

Next to Andy's picture was a picture of Mike. Wyatt swallowed seeing his friend smiling, so full of life and vitality. Mike's caption read "Michael Morris, Baker High School, and Class of 2021. 2003-2021. Understood the purpose of good magic and was dedicated to preserving it. Beloved son, brother, and friend. The magical community honors and thanks you. You have made us proud."

Sheila put her hand to her mouth and silently began to cry.

"We didn't just want it to be another pointless memorial." Melinda said. "We hoped that it would be a fitting tribute. But if the wording's not right…let us know." She turned to her mother. "We're going to put Prue and Grandma and Grams here, but we couldn't get them up by today, so just know that we're working on it." Leo nodded, putting his arms around his wife, as Darryl no longer needed to be restrained.

Darryl turned to Wyatt. "Son, I'm sorry. I…"

Wyatt shook his head. "You never needed to apologize to me, Darryl." He smiled and offered him his hand.

As Darryl took it, both thought that they could hear a voice in the distance saying, "Man, it's about time."


End file.
